Man influenced by stepfather will do no jail for drugs

Adam was born in New South Wales and was educated at the prestigious Scots College in Sydney.
He has worked both in Australia and United Kingdom for some of the largest newspapers in the two respective countries.
He joined APN as a senior journalist at The Chronicle in Toowoomba in 2010, before moving to APN’S Brisbane Newsdesk in 2013 where he covered politics and court.
Adam won a 2015 Queensland Clarion Award - the state's premier journalism awards - and was named 2011 APN Daily Reporter of...

AN Ipswich man has avoided spending any time behind bars despite pleading guilty to a host of serious drug charges.

Cody Mark O'Keefe, 27, pleaded guilty in the Brisbane Supreme Court in February to seven charges including supplying and possessing a commercial quantity of methamphetamines.

The court heard on Monday, at his sentencing hearing, O'Keefe was in cahoots with several other family members including his step-father - who was the head of the family's drug operation.

His brother and stepfather are serving lengthy jail sentences for their roles in the operation and another family member received a suspended sentence.

A fourth has yet to be sentenced.

Crown Prosecutor Dennis Kinsella told the court O'Keefe's activities were only detected after an operating targeting his stepfather.

"It was clear he was selling the drugs with the view to make a quick profit," he said.

"He was aware of his step-father's and brother's involvement in the drug world and used that to his advantage."

Judge David Boddice said he accepted O'Keefe had shown remorse for his crimes and believed he would be better served with a strict parole-based order based on the fact he had no drug related criminal history.

He said he had taken into account his early guilty plea and co-operation with authorities when determining what sentence to impose.